Despite current legal restrictions, unsafe abortions are still widespread in Malawi as over 100,000 abortions take place every year, country-wide. Citing the research results by the College of Medicine and Guttmacher Institute which shows that over 141,000 abortions happened in Malawi in 2015 alone, Coalition for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (COPUA) Vice Chairperson, Dr Amos Nyaka wants the law process to continue. “It is time the nation considered the recommendations which the Law Commission made on abortion,” he said.
According to the Commission, the law reform can contribute to the reduction of maternal deaths. Nyaka said government should address the causes of maternal deaths such as hemorrhage, sepsis, obstructed labour and unsafe abortions. “We are in a situation where no religion, and no restrictive law has stopped women from procuring abortion when they wish to do so.
It seems when a woman decides that she does not want a pregnancy, she does anything to terminate it,” said Dr Nyaka. Human Rights Activist, Juliet Sibale believed that the proposed law drafted by the Law Commission once passed in Parliament will allow women and girls to access the services on four grounds only. “Once the proposed law is in place, termination of a pregnancy would be permissible, where continued holding of pregnancy will endanger the life of a pregnant woman; where termination is necessary to prevent injury to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman, where there is.
